Mariners’ Raul Ibanez: ‘I want to play in the playoffs – right here’ in Seattle

Raul Ibanez, the Mariners’ 41-year-old home-run and RBI leader, doesn’t want to be traded — despite plenty of rumors that the Mariners may look to cash in on his amazing success this season.

Teammates congratulate Raul Ibanez, center, after he hit a two-run homer against the White Sox on June 3 at Safeco Field. The Mariners beat Chicago 4-2. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

“I like being here,” Ibanez, who is on his third stint with the Mariners in his 18-year MLB career, told reporters Friday. “I like being a part of this team and I’d like to win here.”

Ibanez wouldn’t even want to be traded to a team in the postseason hunt this season, according to MLB.com and The Seattle Times. In fact, he doesn’t think the playoffs are completely out of reach for a Mariners club that’s 43-52 and 11 games out of a Wild Card berth, as the schedule resumes Friday after this week’s All-Star break.

“I would say it’s July, and why can’t we do that here?” Ibanez said before Friday’s M’s game in Houston. “Yeah, I want to play in the playoffs — right here. I think we’ve been playing good baseball that last couple of weeks, and I’d like to see that continue.”

Some of that improvement is thanks to Ibanez, who along with his continued veteran leadership has batted .367 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in the month of July, fleshing out his season line of .267 with 24 homers and 56 RBIs. Much of that improvement is also due to the recent injection of young players — prospects like Nick Franklin, Brad Miller and Mike Zunino who have come up and answered the call.

But getting to the playoffs in 2013 is a tall order for these Mariners, who have shown a frustrating mix of great and poor baseball this season. It means the M’s, if they do make any trades before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, are in better position to be sellers than buyers.

“It’s never happened, and that’s even more confirmation for me as to why I don’t think about it,” Ibanez said, according to reports. “A lot of times you end up worrying and stressing about things that never happen. I try not to worry and stress and think about things like that. I try to do my job.”

Also, check out our gallery below of the most memorable Mariners trade-deadline deals in franchise history.

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